


Dare to Love Me

by Mastia



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Wedding Planner, Different Take on Soulmates, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Minor Armin Arlert/Erwin Smith, Minor Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Minor Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart, Minor Petra Ral/ Oluo Bozado, Multi, Past Character Death, Past Erwin Smith/ Mike Zacharias, Platonic Eren/Armin, Platonic Levi/Hanji, Slightly Slow Build, ereri, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-03-03 17:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2859728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mastia/pseuds/Mastia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi Ackerman is the best Wedding Planner in the industry, but despite his job he never believed in true love. Even when he found his Pair, his soulmate, neither of them felt anything but friendship. Years later, married and annoyed, the man is surprised to find himself breaking the business's biggest rule: don't fall in love with a client. Soulmate! AU, Wedding Planner! AU, Ereri/Riren</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kickstart

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, many thanks to my lovely beta, Myst, who really helped make the story a little less horrible. It would've been better, but I'm a stubborn person who didn't budge on some suggestions.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are more than appreciated. I'll do my best to answer any questions you have.
> 
> Chapter Song is Me and My Broken Heart by Rixton.

It was another boring day for Levi as he made his way to work. Sunlight streamed through the large windows that made up the east wing reception area, and the air smelled of apples. It was too fruity for his tastes, but it was preferred to the sickeningly sweet smell of roses that normally hit him. Like every other day he ignored the people at the front desk as he passed them, and they did the same.

He sighed as the elevator doors closed in front of him, ascending to the top floor of Sina Corporation.  Noting to himself to have its interior thoroughly cleaned, he returned his gaze forward and waited until he reached his stop.

 As one of the most respected and well known wedding planners in the industry, he and his team had been responsible for making people’s dreams come true for years now. Known simply as the Wings of Freedom, they were the best of the best, and no matter what you wanted, they always made sure it happened. Services like his came at a steep price, though, so only those elite enough to afford it or desperate enough to sell themselves away had any hope of buying his time and attention.

He didn’t understand why people needed such extravagant weddings himself, but it paid for a roof over his head and food on his table, so he didn’t give it too much thought. He himself rarely dealt with the clients personally, and he was grateful for that. Levi was much too blunt for that part of the job, not hesitating in the least to ruin the brats’ ideas of love, and the higher ups in the company (namely Erwin) had decided that it was in their best interest to keep the short man as far away from the clients as possible.

Levi wasn’t sure when, but the idea of love had stopped fazing him before he could remember. Weddings were just another event. Finding your one and only soul mate, the person most compatible with you, your ‘other half’, was an everyday thing. _It was normal._ Everyone went through it, and it wasn’t the magical world stopping experience that it was chalked up to be. The gold band around his left ring finger was proof of that.

Like most people, Levi had found his soul mate before his twenty-first birthday, though his meeting with Hanji came a little late compared to the usual age of fifteen. It had been a few months after starting his job at Sina, actually. Even five years later, the memory was fresh in his brain.

_The brunette, as hyper as she was (and still is if he was honest), had run into him at full force, spilling scalding coffee all over his new suit. He’d spent a good thirty minutes at least yelling at her in the hallway before walking over to the men’s bathroom to try and dry off. She’d steered clear of him like the plague after that for the rest of the day._

_It was a Wednesday the next day, and both of them woke up with the telltale signs of finding ‘the one’: a matching pair of tattoos on their wrists. Neither was very interested, but they followed protocol anyways and set a dinner date for that night at a local diner._

_Maria’s was a dive, but their burgers and fries were some of the best he’d ever had, and the owner Hannes made sure to keep everything clean. He knew because it’d been his first and only job before he’d joined Sina. Levi made it clear in the beginning he had no intention to start a relationship with the woman, and was surprised to find out she felt the same. They spent their night talking about everything and nothing: movies, food, work, dreams. Hanji even ended up on an hour rant about her theories on Pairing._

_The rumours of what it was like to find your other half was nothing like what Levi was feeling, which interested the brunette. He felt no invisible string pulling them towards each other at all. Hanji did to an extent, but it was extremely dull, almost like an ache. It was almost like a craving for something sweet to eat when you couldn’t have sugar. She’d assured Levi time and time again that she didn’t feel any sexual or romantic attraction towards him. It was more of a need to be close._

_Throughout their meal, Levi learned quite a bit: Hanji was hyper, loud, and messy- the complete opposite of him. She talked with food in her mouth and flailed her arms around. One glare from the man and she managed to swallow first, though. Hanji had a never ending supply of stories to tell Levi about, and didn’t mind that he barely talked about himself. His past wasn’t something he wanted to tell anyone, let alone a stranger he had met a day before. It didn’t matter that she was his Pair._

_As much as she annoyed him at times, she had started growing on him._

_The ‘date’ ended up going smoothly, surprisingly enough, so they decided to meet up for a movie later in the week. It led to another and another, and soon their coworkers started to notice. When Hanji went missing (an occurrence that happened too frequently in Levi’s opinion) her assistant Moblit almost always found her in his office. She didn’t usually put up a fight, but never failed to remind Levi about their plans together or that he’d see her later. One day, after Moblit practically dragged her back to her office to meet with a client, Erwin had made an appearance._

_Not only was he his boss, the man was also Levi’s closest friend. He noticed the change almost immediately but knew better than to bring it up- until then at least._

_“So, Levi. Who’s that charming lady clawing away from the intern? I think I heard that her name is Hanji? She seemed pretty attached to you.” The blond smiled, “You didn’t do a secret favor or something, did you? If so, as your friend, I think I have a right to know if the end of the world is here.”_

_“Oh shut it, Eyebrows.”_

_Erwin’s grin got bigger as he crossed the threshold and shut the door. He chuckled at the smaller man’s glare. After knowing him for so long he was immune. “Hmmm, you never let me have my fun. But you’re right I guess. I noticed your Band a while ago. There was just never a good chance to bring it up.”_

_Levi had looked down at the offending mark with a mixture of annoyance and disgust. “Tch. The thing means nothing. It might as well be a tattoo. And don’t give me that look, Erwin. She doesn’t feel it either.”_

_That seemed to surprise the older man, “Oh? Well that’s strange.” He frowned. “Are you sure you two are just ignoring it? I mean-.”_

_“No. We can’t fucking ignore what wasn’t there to begin with. Trust me, Hanji has literally thought of everything. It’s all the woman thinks about. She lives and breathes Pairs.” The blonde man opened his mouth to speak, but Levi managed to cut him off. “Just drop it Erwin, please.”_

The sound of papers falling snapped Levi out of his memories, and he raised his head to find his assistant, Petra smiling down at him. “We have a new client.”

“I could tell,” Levi frowned looking over the different forms that had scattered all over his desk, head tilting to one side as he read over the familiar name, “Jaeger? As in Grisha Jaeger? I thought the _good doctor_ was already happily married.”

Petra rolled her eyes and chuckled, “Of course he is. The wedding is for his son, Eren. Apparently he and his Pair just graduated, and Grisha is sparing no expense. Erwin wanted me to warn you that they’re expecting your… personal expertise on this one. You’re supposed to meet with the family tomorrow afternoon.”

Levi waved his assistant out as he continued to go through the stacks. “Tell Erwin I’ll be a big boy. And bring my lunch to me today; I’m not going out. I’ve got work to do.” As Petra nodded and left the office, he stopped what he was doing and looked down at the photo of the happy couple in his hand. Their names were scrawled in Erwin’s handwriting underneath them. Levi stared at the photo for a minute before putting it down, his thumb swiping over the brunet boy’s face.

“Eren Jaeger, huh.”


	2. Rebel Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Song: Rebel Heart by the Corrs (it's so fucking pretty guys)

Levi had never been a fan of summer showers, and the morning of his meeting with the new clients wasn't any different. He walked into the office more annoyed than before, and grumbled to himself on the way to his floor, cursing the sky and anyone and everyone who so much as looked at him. The Jaeger's appointment had been rescheduled for 9:30, which would normally still have given him a little over and hour and a half to prepare, but he was running late do to people's incompetence of driving in anything but sunny weather. He swore that rain brought out the worst in drivers. 

The clock had just hit nine o'clock by the time he managed to slide into his chair, and he pulled out their file, sighing when he noticed the cup of coffee sitting in front of him. Petra must've gotten a text from Hanji about his mood that morning. After taking a small sip  of the hot liquid, he made a note to himself to buy the strawberry blonde some of her favorite chocolates. His mate would no doubt already have something in mind, so Levi didn't bother planning for a gift for her, grimacing as he thought of all the things she would make him do.

Like any other file, the one in his hands was meant to give him the basics of what the happy couple were looking for in a wedding, and one of his eyebrows twitched as he looked over the new information. There wasn't much, which annoyed him more than he'd admit. He had gotten used to the detailed reports from his team and not the few sentences that he was seeing, and he shook his head before setting the papers down and paging Petra.

"What the hell is this?"

"Sir?" She sounded genuinely confused, and Levi clucked his tongue, flipping through the empty pages piled neatly on his desk.

"There's barely anything here, Petra. My team should do better than this."

There was a pause before the woman spoke, "I'm sorry about that Mr. Ackerman, but it's the best we could do. Mr. Jaeger never showed up and his fiance was having trouble deciding by himself. Gunther thought it'd be best to wait until there was less pressure." He could hear her shuffling papers on the other side of the line. "We didn't want to waste anyone's time."

Levi closed his eyes, letting out a long breathe of of air through his nose. "I trust your judgment, so I'll let it slide this time. But if it happens again, you force it out of them. Got it?'

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He took another sip of his coffee. "I'm going to get some tea. If they get here before I get back, page me." Levi didn't bother waiting for a response, pushing his coffee to the side and standing up. Petra was well aware that he only got his own tea when he needed to get away and think, and he was glad when she didn't offer to do it for him. It was one of the benefits of working together for so long. When the elevator doors slid open, he quickly pressed the button, tapping his foot while he waited for it to take him down to the first floor.

~

Eren groaned as he followed behind his two friends, well friend and _fiance_. He didn't think he'd ever get used to the idea of being married to Armin, but as he watched the two of them talking animatedly in front of him, he realized that it could have been worse. Even if they didn't see each other as more than close friends- brothers even- the brunet was still happy knowing that his soulmate was someone who actually loved him. And as innocent as it was, he loved the blond boy just as much.

Still, planning their wedding wasn't sitting well with him, and even though he couldn't put his finger on what it was, he felt like going through with it was going to be a huge mistake.

"...was thinking that you could do a light blue. What do you think, Eren?" Mikasa looked back at the brunet with an expectant gaze, rolling her eyes when she only recieved a blank stare back. "Don't you think blue would be a good accent for the wedding?"

An apologetic smile found its way onto his face, and he looked over at Armin, who had turned around to look at him sometime during the conversation.

"Are you okay, Eren?" The blond's voice was laced with worry. "You aren't feeling sick again, are you? We can reschedule-."

"I'm fine, Coconut, I promise. And I think baby blue would be great for the wedding, Mika."

Armin huffed, shaking his head as he turned around with a pout. "What did I ever do to you?"

The brunet laughed, linking their hands together as an apology. "Awe, you know I'm only kidding, Armin. You haven't been a coconut in years-."

Mikasa hid her smile behind the red scarf around her neck, a playful glint in her eyes. "It was better than your bed head though, Eren. The teacher kept thinking you two were doing stuff in the bathroom."

"Hey! It wasn't that bad."

"W-what?" Cheeks turning a dark shade of red, Armin's eyes widened and he stopped walking to stare at the girl walking beside him.

"Don't tell me you two didn't notice the teachers talking about you guys..."

Eren let his mind wander as his two friends talked, letting go of Armin to retake his position behind them. He wasn't comfortable putting on a show for long periods of time, and he knew was going to have to for however long the meeting took. Better conserve the energy while he could. Mikasa had thought ahead, rescheduling the appointment last minute to throw off any paparazzi that had been tipped off, so he didn't feel the need to keep up the act so much.

 When Armin's and his Bands had shown up, no one hand been surprised, and everyone in their group was doing everything possible to make sure their nuptuals went smoothly. His parents had used their influence to keep the two out of the press while they were in school, but now that they were both graduated, they were starting to be more in the spotlight. It was annoying, and constantly having to convince everyone around them that he could barely keep his arms of of Armin was taxing on the teen. It helped that the blond boy didn't seem to have the same problem, picking up whatever Eren managed to slack on. He never failed to be anything but the perfect Pair in public. As far as he knew, the only person who didn't see them as a couple was Mikasa, but she knew the importance of keeping it a secret, and her loyalaty to them was unwavering.

Without realizing it, the brunet found himself at their destination. The building before him stood tall and intimidating, and he chewed on his lips as the group made their way through the main lobby. The receptionist made sure to smile and nod as they passed her, obviously eyeing their wrists to figure out who the happy couple was.

It didn't surprise him when her lips curled into a small frown, confusion clear on her face. People were always shocked to find out that it was Eren and Armin that were a pair and not the blond and raven haired girl, and the brunet always found it kind of funny how they would stumble to apologize to him and his Pair for making assumptions. Neither he nor Armin cared, but in a society where soulmates were sacred, they had grown used to it being made a big deal.

The group stepped in front of the elevators, and Mikasa quickly pressed the up button, glancing back at the two boys with a serious expression. "I'm not too worried about Armin, but your planner is known for being...blunt. Please try not to provoke him, Eren." The doors slid open, and the three of them got in. "Whether you like it or not, Grisha made it clear that he's going to be in charge of this."

"I'm not a child Mikasa. I'm a big boy. I can handle myself." Eren grinned, wrapping his arm around Armin's waist like a proper Pair should. "Besides, how bad can the guy be?"

Armin relaxed into Eren, slipping into their routine and shaking his head. The shiny doors of the elevator opened to give the brunet his first glimpse fo the place he'd be spending a lot of his time. "Either way, we'll be finding out in a second. We're here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE INTERNET AGAIN WHOOOOOOO *dances* I'm really pissed that I missed Ereri week guys, but I've been working on my other fics while I've been cooped inside so I guess it's not all bad. And I finally graduated from high school! So I have more time to write ;-; (I'm still a procrastinating shit tho so idk) As always kudos and subscriptions are awesome, but comments make me turn into jelly. Til next time ^^


	3. It Was Always You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Song: It Was Always You by Maroon 5
> 
> I had things I wanted to say, and then I forgot them...

His eyes widened when the elevator doors slid open. The Jaegers weren't due for a while yet, and the fact that they were standing in front of him before he'd had a chance to think made him glare at the first set of eyes he managed to find. Curious green met pissed off grey, and Levi could feel his heart skip a beat as he stared at the boy in front of him.

Eren, if he was correct, shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat, stepping forward to let him pass. His fiancé, the blue eyed blond boy squeaked as he followed the other's example, and a girl that he couldn't place the name of shook her head and moved to catch up with the other two. Levi clenched his fists as he stepped onto the elevator, turning around just in time to see the brunet boy lean down to kiss his fiancé on the forehead before the doors shut.

~

Eren brushed his fingers through Armin's hair, kissing the blond gently on the forehead. He could tell that the encounter with the shorter man had shaken up the boy and upset Mikasa, and his gesture was meant to calm them both down. It didn't really matter that he and his Pair didn't have romantic feelings for each other; it was proven that physical contact was comforting between mates, and at that point, Eren was going to do what was best for his friend. And if he knew anything about his step sister, it was that she would feel better when Armin felt better.

His show of affection worked like he thought it would, and when the blond smiled back up at Eren to let him know that he was okay, the brunet stepped away and finally looked around. It wasn't what he had been expecting, that was for sure. The elevator let out into a large reception area, chairs and a comfy looking couch surrounding a coffee table. There was less light than one would think, most of it coming from the large windows that made up one wall, and a woman with hazel eyes was smiling up at them from behind her desk at the back of the room.

A crystal vase sat on top of the glass table, filled with flowers, and the brunet's focus was brought back to his friends when the blond boy gasped and ran up to look at them. "Oh, my _God_! Eren, Mikasa, do you know what these mean?"

Mikasa tried to hide her smile behind her scarf, but Eren didn't bother, grinning broadly at the excitement Armin was showing. The blond was practically jumping up and down, buzzing as he looked at the different varieties.

"Hmmm, no. Why don't you enlighten us?"

Armin either missed the playful sarcasm or was ignoring it, eyes twinkling. "Well these mean 'joy', and these mean 'comfort'. And these yellow tulips mean 'hopelessly in love'..."

~

Why could he still see the brunet's face? Levi didn't understand. His heart was still beating erratically even after finishing his first, and second, and third cup of tea, and his mind was even more jumbled than before. Before, he'd just been upset about not having enough information to do a proper job. Before, Levi was just frustrated that he was going to have to pull more strings, be more involved than usual.

Now, his head hurt for a different reason. The ache that he could only place as jealously had settled in his chest as he thought about the brunet's lips touching the other boy's skin. They had looked so happy together, so in love, and the raven haired man wanted that. He growled, harshly scrubbing his cup clean in the sink.

It didn't make sense: he'd never felt that way before. He'd seen similar scenes countless times, but he'd never felt this pain. This kind of longing. What was different now?

Hanji's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, making him drop the cup that he'd been holding in his hands. It clattered into the bottom of the sink, but didn't break, which was lucky for the brunette wrapping her hands around Levi's neck. "Hey, Begonia! Aren't you supposed to be with those new clients? I thought their appointment was today."

The raven haired man closed his eyes, settling into his Pair's warmth. It didn't help as much as it usually did though, and the second she mentioned his appointment with the Jaegers, he tensed right back up. "Don't bring that up, Four Eyes."

Hanji pulled him in tighter before letting go completely, taking note of the way he snuggled against her chest like a child. The fact that he was trying to take comfort in their bond set off alarms, and her cheerful tone softened in worry. "Are you okay, Levi? Did something happen? Do I need to go beat up some kids? I swear to God if they-."

"No. Don't, it's fine." Levi sighed, rubbing his face in frustration. "The brats didn't do anything wrong."

"Then tell me what happened." 

Levi shook his head, staring up at his Pair with a hopeless expression. He grabbed her wrist, thumb brushing over their Band gently and lowered his voice to barely a whisper. "I can't do this, Hanji. I can't." The brunette's eyes widened at the blatant show of affection. It was clear to anyone with eyes that her Pair was exceptionally upset; to Hanji, he might as well of tattooed 'help' on his face.

Her instincts were screaming at her to pull her friend close, to pet his hair, to do _anything_ but stand there and do nothing.  But she couldn't bring herself to act on the urge. In the years of knowing him, he'd only allowed her to go that far after Isabel and Farlan had died in the accident, and the raven haired man had made it perfectly clear that PDA was unacceptable. So you can understand how much it surprised her when he turned around to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into a tight hug.

"Levi?" Hanji gasped out, placing her hands cautiously on his back. She flinched when she felt his nails digging into her shoulders. "You're scaring me Levi."

"His eyes. They're so pretty, Hanji. And his lips looked so soft. Damn it! Why did he have to kiss that little mushroom? Why couldn't-." He seemed lost in his thoughts again, and it took his Pair yanking him from her to break him from his trance.

"Levi! What the hell is going on?"

It was painfully obvious what was happening, and it scared him. Levi had never been the type to give into his emotions, let alone have his will collapse like it had. The fact that it hadn’t even been a fight- that with one look he was at the mercy of another human being’s affections- made him sick. He wasn’t ready for this. He didn’t _want_ this. But it was happening.

Tears welled up in Levi’s eyes, and his hands went up to claw at his face. His lungs felt like they were being crushed, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get any air. His eyes widened again, and he could feel himself breaking down, panic making his heart beat at a frantic pace. No matter how he looked at it there was really only one explanation for his feelings. "I think I found my soulmate."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CANT STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF FLOWER MEANINGS IN THIS FIC OMG AND COMMENTS MAKE MY LIFE

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the start of the end of my dry spell. I have a lot lined up, actually. ^^ I'm really sorry for dropping off the face of the planet. I'm gonna try to get as much up before I'm homeless so yay. (ps if you want to know what's going on there you can go to the link below this.) On top of all of the rent and utility issues, in October my flash drive with all of my stories and everything important to me was wiped so I lost everything. I had 5 chapters spread across my fics that I have to rewrote, and it was next to impossible until recently that I've been able to write more than one shitty sentence. For those who stuck around, I want to give a huge thanks and a cookie.
> 
> http://mastia.tumblr.com/post/105322492288/please-read


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